Info: Tickets are $5 for FCT members, $7 for students and seniors and $10 for general admission. Tickets are available at the Cañon City Daily Record, City Market, KRLN studios and at the door.

"Oliver! The Musical" is coming to Cañon City. The community will have five opportunities to see the show performed live by the Fremont Civic Theatre beginning Sept. 21.

Director Drew Frady said the musical first debuted in 1961 in London and in 1963 on Broadway.

"It is a musical telling of Charles Dickens' 'Oliver Twist,'" he said. "It's about an orphaned workhouse boy who is sold into indentured servitude and runs away on the streets of London in the 1840s."

Oliver ends up with a band of pickpockets and ruffians and is mistakenly arrested for picking someone's pocket. The victim turns out to be Oliver's grandfather.

"The story really centers around Oliver being thrust back and forth throughout the course of the show between these two worlds — this rough street life and a somewhat posh London gentlemanly world," Frady said.

Frady has altered the musical by cutting one scene and darkening the show.

"London was not a pretty place to live in the 1840s," he said. "It was dirty and sooty and it stank — if you weren't wealthy, it was a difficult world to live in, a difficult life to have."

The role of Oliver is played by veteran actor Zach Strickler; Fagin is played by James LeVeaux; the artful Dodger is played by Truman Harwood; Bill Sikes is played by Joel Hamilton.

Mr. Bumble is played by Chris Gill; Mr. Brownlow is played by Brendan Pardue; Dr. Grimwig is played by Preston Troutman; and Nancy is played by Alyssa Steele.

In addition to his talented and seasoned cast, Frady said he also is excited about the sets.

"We will have an eight-foot high replica of London Bridge on stage," he said. "Some very interesting action takes place on it."

The show features 12 to 15 musical numbers that the public is sure to recognize as well as an eight-piece orchestra. Sue Frady is the choreographer; Julie Rustand is the musical director and conductor; and Pat Wiles is the art designer.

Showtimes are 7 p.m. Sept. 21; 2 p.m. Sept. 22; 7 p.m. Sept. 27 and 28; and 2 p.m. Sept. 29 at Cañon City High School, 1313 College Ave. Tickets are $5 for FCT members, $7 for students and seniors and $10 for general admission. Tickets are available at the Cañon City Daily Record, City Market, KRLN studios and at the door.

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